Post on 04-Dec-2021
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Core Subjects in Accounting Academic Programmes: Development of Pervasive Skills
Monique Keevy Associate Professor School of Accountancy College of Business and Economics University of Johannesburg, South Africa 011 559 4053 mstrauss@uj.ac.za Orchid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2580-7367
ABSTRACT
Accounting education has, in recent years, increasingly emphasised the need for developing
pervasive skills. This paper reports on a South African study of the perceptions of aspirant
chartered accountants (CAs) on the importance of the core subjects during the academic
programme, in developing pervasive skills, in the categories of ethical behaviour and
professionalism, personal attributes, and professional skills. A questionnaire with open- and
closed-ended questions was administered to aspirant CAs who had completed their academic
programme, and were in the process of completing their training programme. Aspirant CAs
reported that overall pervasive skills were most prevalent in the subject of Strategy. Ethical
behaviour and professionalism skills were most prevalent in the subject of Audit, personal
attribute skills were most prevalent in the subject of Strategy while professional skills were
most prevalent in the subject of Accounting. Taxation received the lowest ranking overall for
pervasive skills as well as for the different categories of skills. Educators need to make
greater efforts to inculcate pervasive skills by using real-life, practical examples in their core
subjects. Furthermore, pervasive skills should be integrated into core subjects, as these are
complementary in nature, but also by integrating core subjects can enhance the acquisition of
the pervasive skills.
Keywords: Academic programme, accountants, core subjects, higher education, pervasive
skills, soft skills, teaching methods.
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1. Introduction
This paper reports on a South African study of the perceptions of aspirant chartered
accountants1 (CAs) on the importance of core subjects in developing pervasive skills, as
recommended by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), during the
university academic programme. In accounting literature, pervasive skills are also referred to
as soft skills, transferable skills, non-technical skills, social and interpersonal skills, generic
skills or employability skills (Boyce, Kelly, Williams & Yee, 2001; Ballantine & McCourt
Larres, 2009; Jackling & De Lange, 2009; Dixon, Belnap, Albrecht & Lee, 2010; Watty,
Jackling & Wilson, 2014; SAICA, 2017). These skills are not subject- or domain-specific
(Boyce et al., 2001; Ballantine & McCourt Larres, 2009). Traditionally, accounting bodies
and educators considered a technical focus more beneficial in higher education (Gammie,
Gammie & Cargill, 2002; Jackling & De Lange, 2009). However, over the last few decades,
the business environment of accounting professionals has changed significantly. Changes in
the business world, coupled with globalisation, advances in technology, corporate scandals
and increasing regulations, have created the need for accountants to demonstrate a wide range
of both technical and pervasive skills (Albrecht & Sack, 2000; Gammie, Cargill & Hamilton,
2010).
Against this backdrop, accounting bodies have developed several frameworks and
reports to address the changes in the profession (American Accounting Association (AAA),
1986, 1989; Albrecht & Sack, 2000; Lines & Gammie, 2004; Pathways Commission, 2012).
Specifically, SAICA developed a Competency Framework, which specified not only the
technical skills that should be taught, but most notably, the pervasive skills that aspirant CAs
should acquire during qualification (SAICA, 2017). The Competency Framework2 groups the
pervasive skills into three categories, namely, (i) ethical behaviour and professionalism (IA),
(ii) personal attributes (IB) and (iii) professional skills (IC). The 2017 Competency
Framework also contains the technical skills, referred to as ‘core subjects’ in this paper,
which are grouped into six main categories, namely: (i) Accounting and External Reporting
(also referred to as ‘Financial Accounting’); (ii) Auditing and Assurance (also referred to as 1 The term ‘aspirant CA’ used in this study, refers to an individual/accounting trainee that has already completed the academic programme and two years of the required three-year training programme. 2 SAICA is undertaking a project (CA2025) to revise the most recent version (2017) of the Competency Framework. The proposed Competency Framework will no longer have the three categories of pervasive skills as set out above, as well as the six core subjects (technical skills). However pervasive and technical skills will still be evident in the proposed CA2025 Competency Framework (SAICA, 2019). This paper, however, reports on the pervasive skills and core subjects as expressed in SAICA’s 2017 Competency Framework (SAICA, 2017).
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‘Auditing’); (iii) Management Decision-Making and Control (also referred to as
‘Management Accounting’); (iv) Financial Management; (v) Taxation; and (vi) Strategy,
Risk Management and Governance (also referred to as ‘Strategy’) (SAICA, 2017).
Some researchers (de Villiers, 2010; Keevy & Maré, 2018) suggest that pervasive
skills should be embedded in the current technical content, given its complementary nature,
while others have called for the transformation of the methods used in accounting curricula
(Albrecht & Sack, 2000; Lines & Gammie, 2004). Educators have responded to these calls by
introducing bespoke methods to address the teaching of pervasive skills in accounting
curricula, notably, business simulations (Riley, Cadotte, Bonney & MacGuire, 2013; Phillips
& Graeff, 2014; Rudman & Kruger-van Renen, 2014; de Villiers, 2016; Burdon & Munro,
2017), case studies (Sawyer, Tomlinson & Maples, 2000; Cullen, Richardson & O’Brien,
2004; Dyball, Reid, Ross & Schoch, 2010; Fortin & Legault, 2010; Doran, Healy,
McCutcheon & O’Callaghan, 2011; Turner & Baskerville, 2013; Moilanen, 2017),
cooperative and collaborative learning exercises (Ballantine & McCourt Larres, 2007; 2009;
Stainbank, 2009; Stoner & Milner, 2010; Doran et al., 2011; Opdecam & Everaert, 2012),
and educational games (Viviers, Fouché & Reitsma, 2016). However, these studies do not
recommend the particular subject in which these delivery methods should be embedded.
Other studies (Hardy & Deppe, 1995; Adler & Milne, 1997; Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008;
Boland, 2012; Phillips & Graeff, 2014; Maughan, 2016; Samkin & Keevy, 2019) have
examined the perceptions of students or graduates in terms of pervasive skills development
during the university academic programme. Similarly though, none of these studies
considered the particular subject, except for Barac and Du Plessis (2014) who investigated
the integration of pervasive skills into core subjects from the viewpoint of heads of academic
departments.
The present study therefore makes the following specific contributions. First, the
paper extends the work of Barac and du Plessis (2014) by ascertaining, from the standpoint of
aspirant CAs, their perceptions of the importance of the core subject in developing SAICA’s
pervasive skills during the academic programme. Second, although accounting education is
bound by frameworks and expectations, the literature (Bayerlein & Timpson, 2016) still
points to a gap between skills attained at university and skills expected in the working
environment. Jackling and De Lange (2009) attribute this gap to the technical focus in higher
education institutions. Samkin and Stainbank (2016) add that educators are thus faced with
the challenge of balancing the teaching of pervasive skills with technical content.
Consequently, this paper contributes to the literature by investigating the perceptions of
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aspirant CAs on the importance of core subjects to the development of their pervasive skills
and identifying potential shortcomings in the development of pervasive skills within the
delivery of core subjects.
The paper commences with a review of existing international and local research. This is
followed by a description of the research method and a presentation of the empirical findings.
The conclusions, limitations and areas for future research are presented in the last section.
2. Literature review
The traditional method of lecturing to merely transfer information and having formal
assessments to evaluate the understanding of that information is not considered effective in
developing pervasive skills (Sawyer et al., 2000; IFAC, 2015). However, the increasing
technical content required of the accounting curriculum means educators continue to rely on
these passive teaching techniques (Boyce et al., 2001). There is however, general consensus
that teaching methods must change (AAA, 1986; 1989; Lines & Gammie, 2004). Some
authors contend that experiential learning should be implemented in the technical content to
enhance skills development, as students learn through actual experience and reflection
(Dewey, 1997; Kolb & Kolb, 2005). This could be further enhanced through real-life tasks
and challenges (Dewey, 1997). Moreover, it has been suggested that a combination of
teacher-centred (passive teaching) and student-centred (active teaching) methods should be
used (Dewey, 1997). Jointly, these methods produce well-rounded accounting graduates with
a strong technical foundation as well as additional skills to aid their long-term career success
(Mohammed & Abdullah, 2018).
Traditionally, South African academic programmes have focused on teacher-centred,
content-driven delivery methods (Hesketh, 2011). Added to this, South African educators
report that they are not ultimately responsible for developing pervasive skills (Strauss-Keevy,
2014). South African aspirant CAs support this view, stating that the training programme is
better suited to developing pervasive skills than the academic programme (Keevy & Maré,
2018). However, de Villiers (2010) points out that even though educators are faced with the
pressures of limited teaching time, an overloaded curriculum and reduced resources, they are
nonetheless responsible for producing accounting graduates, equipped with a set of skills that
will stand them in good stead for the business world.
Consequently, the literature review below focuses on good practice of the core
subjects. International or local institutions may require different core subjects as part of their
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accounting academic programmes. This study, however, focuses on the core subjects which
are required for accreditation by SAICA (SAICA, 2017).
2.1 Financial Accounting
It has been reported that lectures and reading assignments are better suited to presenting basic
financial accounting terms, concepts and techniques, as students view Financial Accounting
as a “number-crunching discipline that can be mastered only be memorizing a myriad of
rules” (Campbell & Lewis, 1991, p. 278). This misconception by students can be remedied by
using appropriate delivery methods (Campbell & Lewis, 1991). For example, Phillips and
Graeff (2014) use in-class simulations requiring students to role-play buying and selling
merchandise and preparing the financial accounting entries for those transactions. Phillips
and Graeff (2014) argue that students are unable to see how financial accounting can be
applied to their personal lives; this intervention thus moved students away from surface
learning to deep learning.
Turner and Baskerville’s (2013) real-life business case study allowed students to
apply theoretical concepts when analysing listed companies. Subsequently, students had to
record their personal reflections in a learning journal. Ballantine and McCourt Larres (2009),
in their Financial Accounting course, examined attitudes to the acquisition of pervasive skills
in two different groups of students − the first group in a cooperative group learning
environment compared to the second, in a traditional group learning environment. The former
was found to be more effective in imparting skills, as it required additional intervention from
educators in terms of group formation, instruction and management (Ballantine & McCourt
Larres, 2009).
Stainbank (2009) reports on a financial accounting project requiring students to work
in self-selected teams. After completing a written project, the teams were required to make an
oral presentation of their results to other teams and educators. In another financial accounting
project, students were required to choose a career to research, prepare a curriculum vitae,
formulate questions to interview professionals in their chosen field, write, peer-review and
revise other groups’ papers and lastly, to present and peer-review others’ presentations. This
project, even though not specifically focusing on financial accounting knowledge, enhanced
several skills (Sergenian & Pant, 1998). In a first-year Financial Accounting class, Opdecam
and Everaert (2012) used lectures and team learning for their students. The team learning
path specifically resulted in greater skills development given that the team members had
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additional resources at their disposal, such as opportunities to consult with the instructor,
opportunities for reflection, listening to presentations and consultation with team members.
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2.2 Auditing
Barac, Kirstein, Kunz and Beukes (2016) assert that audit education is particularly
challenging given its practical nature, and that “students are expected to contextualise their
learning and apply it to real-world situations” (p. 392). de Villiers and Fouché (2015) are of
the view that Auditing is interrelated with the other core subjects and thus requires
knowledge of those other subjects to effectively perform an audit. Educators often do not
create adequate scope for developing the skills required in the audit field (de Villiers &
Fouché, 2015). This could, however, be addressed by using experiential methods such as
guest lectures (Burdon & Munro, 2017), case studies, team projects and student presentations
(Barac et al., 2016).
Burdon and Munro (2017) successfully used a simulation by giving students client
evidence (for example, invoices, inventory listings and asset registers) together with video
recordings of key clients. They then allowed students to carry out site visits. Siegel, Omer
and Agrawal (1997) used a video recording in their class to demonstrate practical audit issues
such as the proposal and client acceptance issues, preliminary planning, mid-engagement
planning and evaluation and lastly, audit completion. de Villiers (2016) used an audit
simulation to develop auditing competencies but also included pervasive skills. Students were
given actual working papers and engagement letters to see how audit theory was applied in
practice, while the use of videos simulated a stock count.
2.3 Management Accounting and Financial Management
Rudman and Kruger-van Renen (2014) report that traditional Management Accounting
classes merely consist of a discussion of the topic’s theory, followed by a working example
consisting of calculations. Consequently, students struggle to link the theory to practice once
they enter the workplace. Rudman and Kruger-van Renen (2014) therefore developed a
simulation in which students were required to prepare a strategic business plan using their
management accounting knowledge and technology skills.
In another Management Accounting module, an intervention to develop pervasive skills
consisted of a series of enrichment tutorials that complemented the content-based tutorials
(Merino & Aucock, 2017). Wynder (2004), in his Management Accounting class, assisted
students to learn about the business environment and the role of a management accountant by
allowing them to analyse the existing procedures to identify the key determinants in a
simulated, computerised case study. His intent was to develop students’ higher-order skills
through the use of case studies.
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Moilanen (2017), in his Management Accounting module, had students complete their
own case assignment and attach a short learning diary. Adler and Milne (1997), in their third-
year Management Accounting class, conducted a case study and a seminar session in a
collaborative learning environment. These methods jointly developed several skills desired
by universities, employers and the profession alike. Ballantine and McCourt Larres (2007), in
their Management Accounting class, required students to work in a cooperative learning
environment on unstructured case studies. In addition, students were required to maintain an
individual and group learning journal to reflect on their own involvement and to identify
individual contributions to the group effort.
Cullen et al. (2004), in their Financial Decision-Making module, used case studies to
formatively assess students through a combination of interactive, small group presentations,
which required role-play by both tutors and students. In addition, group reports and
individual learning diaries were prepared by students. The case studies came from a variety
of sectors covering professional services, retail, manufacturing and the public sector.
2.4 Taxation
Viviers et al. (2016) report that several active learning methods within the subjects of
Financial Accounting, Auditing, Management Accounting and Finance have been developed,
but that Taxation is lagging behind the other subjects. They therefore developed an
educational game that took the form of a race against time where student teams had to
participate in interactive, tax-related activities. The game was designed to incorporate
technical content, but most importantly, it sought to foster pervasive skills. Furthermore,
Sawyer et al. (2000) developed a taxation case study which represented a typical client
engagement for a professional tax adviser. Students were required to identify and research
taxation issues, provide written advice to their client, complete and file an application for a
binding ruling and consult with a unit on behalf of the client.
Mabutha’s study (2017) specifically focused on how ethics − a sub-category of
SAICA’s pervasive skills − could be incorporated into the taxation curriculum. He reported
that the technical topics of tax planning, tax avoidance and tax evasion were fields where
ethics could suitably be linked. Furthermore, he found that case studies were an effective
method to expose students to different types of ethical challenges that they could encounter in
the taxation environment.
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2.5 Integration of core subjects
In Fortin and Legault’s (2010) study, students were involved in a real-business case study
where they experienced the professional life of a public accountant. Students took on the role
of either auditor, advisor, expert witness or controller. Cases focused on different areas of
practice such as financial and tax planning, business opportunities, settlement of legal
disputes, business combinations, organisational environment and ethical conduct. Students
were required to solve the integrated case studies by applying relevant theories, identifying
and analysing problems and making recommendations verbally or in writing. In some
instances, students were required to solve cases through role-play.
Maughan (2016) analysed the effectiveness of a capstone course in developing
pervasive skills from the perspective of students, tutors and educators. The objective of the
course was to enable students to integrate and contextualise the technical knowledge
(Accounting, Finance, Management Accounting, Auditing and Taxation) from their
accounting course with the business environment. The interrelated aspects of these disciplines
were traced through the financial statements of listed companies, focusing on analysis,
interpretation, disclosure and corporate governance.
Samkin and Keevy (2019) report on a real-life case study integrating the subject areas
of Strategy, Financial Management and Management Accounting. During the case study,
students were required to prepare a credit application, similar to what is expected in a
financial institution. It was apparent that the real-life case study assisted students in seeing
the link between the technical content and real-world application. Furthermore, when
collaborative learning is used with another delivery method such as a case study, pervasive
skills can be enhanced even further.
Table 1 below provides the key findings of the pervasive skills developed in the core
subjects and the methods used by these researchers as detailed in the literature review. As
Lines and Gammie (2004, p. 24) observe, “the widening range of required knowledge, skills
and values demands the utilisation of a variety of assessment methods, in order to capture the
entire range of key capabilities necessary in today’s professional accountant”. Furthermore,
pervasive skills should be integrated into all subjects in the accounting curriculum, and the
development of these skills should be the explicit goal of the academic programme (Arquero
Montańo, Jiménez Cardoso & Joyce, 2004).
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Table 1: Summary of the findings on methods used in core subjects to develop
pervasive skills
[INSERT TABLE 1 HERE]
In a South African study, Barac and du Plessis (2014) asked the heads of department
of 14 university undergraduate programmes to indicate the extent to which the different
categories of pervasive skills were integrated into the core subjects. This study did not take
into account Strategy3 as a core subject. Barac and du Plessis (2014) found that ethical
behaviour and professionalism (category IA) had ‘extensive integration’ in the subject of
Auditing, while only ‘some integration’ in the other four subjects: Accounting, Management
Accounting, Financial Management and Taxation. With regards to personal attributes
(category IB), all five subjects had ‘some integration’, with the least integration for Taxation.
Lastly, for the professional skills (category IC), there was ‘much integration’ for Accounting,
Management Accounting, Financial Management and Auditing, while only ‘some
integration’ for Taxation. Moreover, Barac and du Plessis (2014) maintain that the reason
why the IA category is extensively integrated in Auditing, is that the individual skills in the
Competency Framework have a close relationship with SAICA’s professional code of
conduct and its disciplinary rules which are addressed in the auditing curriculum.
Nevertheless, there is a need to integrate ethical behaviour and professionalism into the other
subjects by “requiring students to critically consider the ethical implications of actions
required in response to problem-based scenarios and questions” (Barac & du Plessis, 2014, p.
66). The IFAC (2015) has added to this by indicating that academic programmes must deal
with the values of ethical behaviour by allowing students to explore and make connections
between corporate failures and fraud.
3. Research method
This study examined the perceptions of aspirant CAs on the importance of core subjects in
transferring SAICA’s pervasive skills during the academic programme. In order to explore
aspirant CAs’ views in this regard, a web-based questionnaire was used to elicit the necessary 3 In South Africa, the core subject of Strategy, Risk Management and Governance was only introduced into SAICA’s curriculum in 2009, with the development of the Competency Framework (SAICA, 2009). This subject is embedded within other core subjects such as Auditing (governance portion) and Financial Management and/or Management Accounting (strategy and risk management portion).
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information. Barac and du Plessis (2014) investigated the perceptions of heads of department
on the integration of pervasive skills into core subjects. The present study, however, is based
on the views of aspirant CAs; therefore a bespoke questionnaire was designed to address the
research question. A questionnaire was considered a suitable research instrument given the
large population anticipated in the empirical work (Batinic, Reips, Bosnjak & Werner, 2000).
The questionnaire was pilot-tested on a selected group of aspirant CAs. The pilot assessed
whether the questions in the questionnaire met the intended objective of the study. No major
amendments were required following the pilot test.
The population for the empirical work included all aspirant CAs who wrote the first
Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) in 2014. As this is the final assessment
before qualifying as a CA, the aspirant CAs had already undergone the full scope of the
academic programme and would have had first-hand knowledge of the six core subjects and
the pervasive skills relevant to qualifying as a CA (SAICA, 2018).
In total, 2 050 e-mails were dispatched, yielding a response rate of 66%. The
questionnaire in its entirety was part of a bigger data set. Therefore, only 48% of respondents
addressed the portion of the questionnaire relevant to this paper, as none of the questions in
the questionnaire was compulsory. Questionnaire response rates can often be disappointing
(Lowe & Locke, 2005). For example, recent studies conducted in South Africa reported
response rates of 17% (Barac, 2012) and 28.9% (Malan & Stegmann, 2018). Therefore, the
sizeable response rate achieved for this paper contributes to the reliability and usefulness of
the information. Possible non-response bias was investigated by determining how
representative the respondents were of the total population. At the time of sending the
questionnaire, 14 universities in South Africa were accredited by SAICA. Respondents from
13 universities were represented in the results, as respondents from one university did not
complete the questionnaire. Furthermore, training programmes serve as the practical training
ground for aspirant CAs and are classified as large, medium or small firms, commerce and
industry or the public sector. Respondents from all training programmes were represented in
the results. Therefore, respondents in this study can be seen as being representative of the
total population.
The first part of the questionnaire elicited information on the university where the
participants had completed their academic programme as well as their current training
programme. The part of the questionnaire relevant to this study included four sections (see
Sections 4.1 and 4.2) with closed-ended, ranking questions of a quantitative nature.
Participants were asked to rank the degree to which each core subject contributed to their
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pervasive skills development during their academic programme. The ranking of the core
subjects was from 1 (most important) to 6 (least important). Participants could use each
number only once. Open-ended questions were also included to support findings from the
ranking questions.
As previously stated, SAICA’s 2017 Competency Framework classifies pervasive
skills into three categories, namely, (i) ethical behaviour and professionalism (IA), (ii)
personal attributes (IB) and (iii) professional skills (IC). These categories are further
subdivided into 28 individual skills (SAICA, 2017). The web-link on the questionnaire
contained a sidebar guiding participants on the skills included within each of the three
categories when answering the questions. For example, when answering the questions for a
particular pervasive skill category, a sidebar appeared containing the list of the different skills
under each category (see Table 2). Furthermore, given that the participants, at the time of
completing the questionnaire, would have already completed the academic programme and
two years of the required minimum three-year training programme, they would have been
aware of the pervasive skills, as these skills also need to be attained during the training
contract and recorded in a portfolio of evidence (SAICA, 2018).
Table 2: List of individual skills included in the IA, IB and IC categories of SAICA’s
pervasive skills
[INSERT TABLE 2 HERE]
SAICA distributed the questionnaire via e-mail to aspirant CAs on behalf of the
researcher. The questionnaire contained a dedicated URL. The participants were directed to a
website and asked to complete the questionnaire by clicking on the URL. An independent
statistical consultant was appointed to create a website and control the online administration
and recording of the data and the accuracy of the statistical analysis and interpretations. In
line with ethical practices (Ary, Jacobs & Sorenson, 2010; Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2012),
the completion of the questionnaire by participants was voluntary and anonymous.
Furthermore, electronic consent was obtained from all participants to ensure that data
collected could be collated and reported in aggregate.
4. Empirical findings
4.1 Respondents’ views on the importance of the core subjects in developing pervasive
skills
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The objective of this section in the questionnaire was to elicit respondents’ views on the
importance of the core subjects in developing their pervasive skills. The results are set out in
Table 3 below, and are presented from the most important to the least important, based on the
mean.
Table 3: Respondents’ views on the importance of core subjects in developing
pervasive skills
[INSERT TABLE 3 HERE]
The results from Table 3 are analysed further in Table 4 by comparing respondents’
views per university on the of the core subjects in developing their pervasive skills.
Table 4: Comparison of respondents’ views per university on the importance of core
subjects in developing pervasive skills
[INSERT TABLE 4 HERE]
From the results above, respondents indicated that Strategy (mean = 2.77) was ranked
the highest in developing pervasive skills, while Taxation (mean = 4.54) was ranked the
lowest. Respondents from 8 of the 13 the universities felt that Strategy was the most
important in developing pervasive skills. However, respondents from 4 universities believed
that Accounting was the most important subject in this regard. There was general consensus
that Taxation was the least important in imparting pervasive skills, with respondents from 12
of the 13 universities expressing this opinion (see Table 4). A respondent’s comment
clarifying the low ranking of Taxation is given below:
‘I do not feel that one needs to apply too much more than technical knowledge to Tax, as there are rules that need to be adhered to and followed for reporting.’ (Respondent 264, large firm)
Specifically mentioning the subject of Auditing, one respondent remarked that this
subject can only be understood when the principles are applied in practice (Respondent 143,
large firm). Other respondents felt that an improvement was required in the way Auditing is
taught at university (Respondents 253, 825, large firm). This is because the current ‘level is
not sufficient to develop robust pervasive skills’ (Respondent 928, commerce and industry).
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Several respondents emphasised the relevance and practicality of Strategy, as
indicated in the comments below:
‘The introduction of Strategy in university has forced us to keep current on [the] economic environment.’ (Respondent 1447, public sector) ‘I found that throughout my university program, Financial Management (including Strategy, Risk Management) was the one subject where we really made to think of the qualitative rather than only the quantitative factors influencing decisions. This type of thinking definitely stimulates the development of the pervasive skills. I think that in all the subjects above the questioning approach could consider the role, context and audience.’ (Respondent 914, large firm)
‘Financial Management and Governance and Strategy was quite sufficient in CTA.’ (Respondent 1341, large firm)
However, even though Strategy was ranked highest in imparting pervasive skills, a
comment was made regarding possible improvements:
‘Strategy is the only topic subject that provides a connection to actual practicality. I found the scenarios developed during university were impractical and are never likely to occur in real life. There should be a bigger focus on the basic principles as these are the basics used daily in practice.’ (Respondent 383, large firm)
Several general views were also shared, suggesting that the academic programme did
not adequately prepare students with pervasive skills, as indicated below:
‘I do not believe that there was enough focus on pervasive skills during my under- aspirant CA and post-aspirant CA career. I do believe that these skills were developed when I commenced with my training contract. I do not believe that the university I attended equipped me with the practical skills I need, to conduct my job e.g. information and computer technology was not considered a valuable component of the course and was only completed up until 1st year level. Consequently, my Excel skills were developed when I commenced with my training contract.’ (Respondent 358, commerce and industry)
‘More can be done to entrench pervasive skills in university programme.’ (Respondent 1447, public sector) ‘The University programme contributes to technical skills. Communication skills are not developed enough to be tested as aimed in the APC.’ (Respondent 682, large firm)
‘I believe the university programme focused more on technical competency. The main focus was getting the answer right, to the last decimal. It’s during the
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training programme at the audit firm that the pervasive skills started kicking in, gradually. It’s not something that you can learn from a book, it’s through consistent practice that one can demonstrate the skill.’ (Respondent 864, medium firm)
Furthermore, there were several comments of the same nature, conveying that the
academic programme did not focus on pervasive skills (Respondents 258, 749, 1377, large
firms), and ultimately, did not prepare respondents for the work environment (Respondent
972, public sector), given that the delivery focused predominantly on technical content
(Respondents 586, 1038, large firm). A pertinent comment was made by one respondent:
‘Overall there was not a large focus on creating strong managers with good analysis skills and personal skills and an ability to implement technical knowledge in a professional environment. Rather, there was a focus on ensuring technical strength, forgetting about the environment in which our technical knowledge will be used. However, it is difficult for students to imagine the corporate environment and to know the correct business manner when in varsity.’ (Respondent 1358, large firm)
Therefore, the practical experience afforded by the training programme was where most of
the pervasive skills were developed (Respondents 901, 1065, medium firm). Specific mention
was made of all three categories of pervasive skills. For example, Respondent 922 (large
firm) conveyed that “personal attributes” (IB category) and “professional skills” (IC
category) were not properly addressed in a university context whereas respondent 782 (large
firm) was of the view that the “professional skills” (IC category) and “ethical values” (IA
category) were only addressed during their experience in the auditing firm.
In contrast, certain respondents indicated that all subjects were important in
developing pervasive skills (Respondent 305, large firm; Respondent 573, medium firm).
Other respondents (Respondent 19, medium firm; Respondent 797, public sector;
Respondents 234, 1296, 1443, large firm) indicated that there should be more integration of
core subjects with real-world case studies, as this ‘integration/bigger picture concept gives
the necessary context for the development of pervasive skills’ (Respondent 204, medium
firm). Other respondents (Respondent 340, large firm; Respondent 386, medium firm)
suggested more integrated assignments across all core subjects to allow ‘students to think
about all competency areas’ (Respondent 386, medium firm).
The IFAC (2015) indicates that pervasive skills are not acquired solely from specific
courses but rather, from both the academic programme and the training programme as well as
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through life-long learning. This viewpoint was echoed by Respondent 936 (medium firm)
who remarked: ‘I believe that pervasive skills are developed through experience in the field,
more than in one particular field’. Another respondent was of the opinion that the academic
programme merely focused on passing examinations and not on the development of pervasive
skills (Respondent 573, medium firm). These skills are enriched and attained during the
training programme (Respondent 573, medium firm; Respondent 1310, large firm;
Respondent 1370, public sector).
Countering the views expressed above, three respondents argued that ‘pervasive skills
were [a] major focus during university studies’ (Respondent 690, public sector) and that
universities assisted meaningfully in developing those skills (Respondent 865, public sector;
Respondent 1096, medium firm). Moreover, another respondent commented that the business
ethics course that was completed during the second year of the academic programme greatly
assisted in the acquisition of pervasive skills (Respondent 1330, commerce and industry).
4.2 Respondents’ views on the importance of core subjects in developing the IA, IB and
IC categories of pervasive skills
The objective of the following three sections of the questionnaire, as set out in Tables 5, 6
and 7 below, was to ascertain respondents’ views on the importance of the core subjects in
developing the IA, IB and IC categories of pervasive skills. The results are presented from
the most important to the least important, based on the mean.
Table 5: Respondents’ views on the importance of the core subjects in developing the
IA category
[INSERT TABLE 5 HERE]
Regarding the skills applicable to ethical behaviour and professionalism, the subject
of Auditing was ranked the highest by respondents, followed by Strategy. Given the technical
focus of the IA skills in Auditing and Strategy, it appears realistic that these subjects were
ranked the highest by respondents. Several of the individual skills in the IA category (for
example, protects the public interest; acts competently with honesty and integrity; maintains
objectivity and independence; avoids conflict of interest; protects the confidentiality of
information; and adheres to laws, professional standards and policies) are covered during the
technical component of Auditing and Strategy (SAICA, 2017). Furthermore, in the auditing
syllabus, students would also acquire an understanding of ethical principles (IFAC, 2015).
17
Barac and du Plessis (2014) state that the reason why the IA category is extensively
integrated in the subject of Auditing is that the individual skills in the Competency
Framework have a close relationship with SAICA’s professional code of conduct and its
disciplinary rules. Therefore, the high ranking of Auditing for the IA category is also in line
with the findings of Barac and Du Plessis (2014). Comments made by two respondents in this
section of the questionnaire also emphasised the relevance of auditing to the IA category:
‘Ethical behaviour and professionalism is mostly obtained through Auditing.’ (Respondent 193, small firm) ‘Strong ethical behaviour was stressed under Auditing.’ (Respondent 1387, small firm)
However, according to the IFAC (2015, p. 52), educators “need to distinguish
between teaching students about professional values, ethics and attitudes and developing and
instilling ethical behaviour”. The use of a conventional lectures merely involves introducing
and describing theories and concepts (IFAC, 2015).
Based on the ranking of the other subjects − Accounting, Management Accounting,
Financial Management and Taxation − there is scope for further inclusion. Barac and Du
Plessis (2014) indicate only some integration in the other core subjects, barring Auditing.
However, there is a need to integrate ethical behaviour and professionalism into the other
core subjects by “requiring students to critically consider the ethical implications of actions
required in response to problem-based scenarios and questions” (Barac & Du Plessis, 2014, p.
66). Furthermore, based on the responses from the 13 universities, respondents from 7
indicated that Strategy was most important in addressing the IA category while respondents
from 5 believed that this was best achieved by Auditing. Taxation is the subject that was least
important in addressing the IA category, according to respondents from 12 universities (see
Table 4).
Table 6: Respondent’s views on the importance of core subjects in developing the IB
category
[INSERT TABLE 6 HERE]
The subject of Strategy was ranked the highest, followed closely by the other subjects,
except for Taxation. Barac and Du Plessis (2014) indicate that for the IB category there was
18
some integration for all the subjects, but the least integration for Taxation. Furthermore,
respondents from 8 of the 13 universities indicated that Strategy was most important in
addressing the IB category of pervasive skills. However, respondents from two universities
disagreed, stating that Management Accounting was better, while respondents from another
two thought Accounting was most important for this category. Respondents from 11
universities declared that Taxation was the least important in addressing the IB category (see
Table 4).
Confirming the higher ranking of Management Accounting, a respondent expressed
the following view:
‘I found managerial decision making highly value adding to my person as it sharpens ones’ ability to scan the environment and make decisions while being mindful of how stakeholders like customers, suppliers, employees etc. might react adversely to a business move that on the surface appears so profitable.’ (Respondent 1236, large firm)
Table 7: Respondents’ views on the importance of core subjects in developing the IC
category
[INSERT TABLE 7 HERE]
For the IC category, the subject of Accounting was ranked the highest, followed by
Strategy. The other subject rankings closely followed. Taxation was once again ranked last
according to the mean score. Similarly, Barac and du Plessis (2014) observe that there was
“much integration” of pervasive skills for Accounting, Management Accounting, Financial
Management and Auditing but only “some integration” for Taxation. Respondents from 9 of
the 13 universities indicated that Accounting was most important in addressing the IC
category. Respondents from 11 universities agreed that Taxation was least important in
addressing the IC category (see Table 4).
5. Conclusions, limitations and areas for future research
This paper reports on a study of aspirant CAs’ perceptions on the importance of the core
subjects in accounting academic programmes in transferring SAICA’s pervasive skills. First,
the results demonstrate that Strategy is an important subject for pervasive skills development,
given its practical nature which forces students to remain current. However, it was suggested
that Strategy should involve more real-life scenarios (Dewey, 1997) involving business roles,
contexts and stakeholders (Samkin & Keevy, 2019). Given the high ranking of Strategy, and
19
it being a relatively new subject, there is potential for educators to collaborate on experiential
and practical methods (Dewey, 1997; Kolb & Kolb, 2005) to enhance pervasive skills
development even further.
Views were expressed that integration of core subjects with real-life case studies aids
pervasive skills development. This is corroborated by Fortin and Legault (2010), Maughan
(2016) and Samkin & Keevy (2019), who recommended combining subjects in an
intervention to improve skills development. Pervasive skills should thus be integrated into the
core subjects as these are complementary in nature (Arquero et al., 2004; de Villiers, 2010;
Keevy & Maré, 2018), but by integrating core subjects also aids pervasive skills development
(Fortin & Legault, 2010; Maughan, 2016 & Samkin & Keevy, 2019).
Auditing was ranked as the most important subject for developing the IA competencies.
The IFAC (2015) advises against using conventional lectures to merely describe ethical
theories and concepts, recommending instead that alternative experiential methods (Dewey,
1997; Kolb & Kolb, 2005) be used such as case studies, ethical discussions, role-plays, guest
lectures, educational games and cooperative learning environments (Ballantine & McCourt
Larres, 2007; IFAC, 2015; Viviers et al., 2016). Added to this, several researchers (Siegel et
al., 1997; de Villiers, 2016; Burdon & Munro, 2017) contend that video simulations are
particularly effective in showing students the practical issues of an audit environment and
learning through experience (Dewey, 1997; Kolb & Kolb, 2005), which ultimately results in
pervasive skills development.
The core subjects of Strategy and Accounting were ranked the highest in developing the
IB and the IC competencies. For pervasive skills as a whole, and for the three categories of
pervasive skills, Taxation was found to be the least important. In addition, from a university
perspective, the subject of Taxation was ranked lowest in transferring pervasive skills.
Nevertheless, some educators (Viviers et al., 2016; Sawyer et al., 2000) have successfully
used educational games and case studies in this subject to foster pervasive skills. Mabutha
(2017) even went so far as to specify which modules in Taxation would be best suited for
integrating pervasive skills into the subject content. These were Tax Planning, Tax
Avoidance and Tax Evasion. One respondent stated that Taxation was merely about rules.
However, when practical examples are brought in to the Taxation classroom, pervasive skills
can be inculcated more effectively. Furthermore, both Viviers et al. (2016) and Sawyer et al.
(2000), in their Taxation curriculum, combined an educational game and case study with
group work to further aid skills development.
20
SAICA’s Competency Framework was developed as far back as 2009. Therefore, it is
concerning that aspirant CAs view the academic programme as technical with a focus on
simply passing examinations. Like the 2017 Competency Framework, the CA2025
Competency Framework will require educators to equip students with a range of pervasive
skills (SAICA, 2019). Consequently, educators should take note of the results of this study by
introducing more experiential learning into the core subjects and giving students more
opportunities to experience real-life tasks and business contexts (Dewey, 1997; Kolb & Kolb,
2005).
The limitations inherent to this study follows. Firstly, the subject of Strategy was
indicated by respondents as being most important in developing pervasive skills in their
entirety and for the IB category. However, several students would have encountered Strategy
not as a standalone subject but rather as part of Auditing (governance portion) and Financial
Management and/or Management Accounting (strategy and risk management portion).
Secondly, the data was collected in South Africa. Therefore, the generalisability of the results
could be limited given that the questionnaire was specifically associated with the core
subjects at SAICA-accredited higher institutions in South Africa. Using more interpretive
approaches such as interviews or focus groups on particular pedagogies, future studies could
identify which subjects are more important in developing pervasive skills. Regardless of
these limitations, this study provides useful evidence on the importance of core subjects in
developing pervasive skills. These findings could aid educators to refine their academic
programmes in light of forthcoming changes such as the CA2025 Competency Framework in
South Africa.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and
suggestions. Many thanks also go to SAICA for supporting this research and assisting in
distributing the questionnaire to aspirant CAs.
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Memorandum of changes
Core Subjects in Accounting Academic Programmes: Development of Pervasive Skills
I would like to thank the reviewers for the care they have taken in the review of the various iterations of our paper. I believe that all issues they have raised have been addressed and the paper is hopefully ready for acceptance.
In the following table I have detailed the reviewers’ comments and have provided the responses and relevant changes.
Reviewer 3: In addition to the comments raised by the reviewers, we suggest that the authors consider re-writing the abstract. For e.g. remove the reference to SAICA in the abstract, and replace it with the three categories of pervasive skills. The section that starts with the sentence 'It concerning that aspirant CAs .." does not flow, and does not link with the discussion of the findings. The findings refer to where these pervasive skills are prevalent, and then this sentence refers to the technical focus and passing of exams. Integrating pervasive skills across all subjects seems to be an appropriate conclusion. Further, you may want to consider changing the description of "aspirant CAs" to "accounting trainees" - to make it more accessible for international readers.
Thank you this has been addressed in the abstract. See updates with three categories of pervasive skills in the abstract. Thank you removed. Agreed. I have therefore also included the similar sentence from the conclusion to the abstract, that pervasive skills should be integrated into core subjects, but core subjects should also be integrated. Thank you, this was considered. However, I looked at the paper in its entirety and this may create latter problems in the paper. I have therefore added a footnote in the introduction
27
of what an aspirant CA is as set out below: The term ‘aspirant CA’ used in this study, refers to an individual/accounting trainee that has already completed the academic programme and two years of the required three-year training programme. Furthermore, I have looked at various Accounting Education papers specifically in SAJAR, which mostly refer to aspirant CAs.
Reviewer 2 I want to thank the author(s) for addressing the comments and recommendations made by both reviewers. In my opinion these comments and recommendations have been addressed sufficiently.
Thank you for this positive feedback over the various iterations.
Reviewer 4: Thank you for the opportunity to review the paper. It is an interesting and relevant study. As the other reviewers have provided detailed feedback, I will comment on corrections that I recommend further and above those previously made: Previous reviewer comments have been adequately addressed. Typographical, punctuation and reference errors still evident: Page 1, in the abstract, the sentence should read "It is concerning that aspirant CAs..."
Thank you. However, the previous reviewer suggested that this sentence be removed from the abstract.
Page 2, in the introduction, first para, "However, over the last decades..." Is this the last few decades, or just the last decade?
Thank you. Amended this to “over the last few of decades”, given that this started in the early 1980s.
Page 3, after the references ending "Moilanen, 2017)" there should be a comma and space before "cooperative"
Inserted the comma. Thank you.
Page 6, the page reference on the Barac et al reference is inconsistent.
Thank you. I have amended this as follows: Barac, Kirstein, Kunz and Beukes (2016) assert that audit education is particularly challenging given its practical nature, and that “students are expected to contextualise their learning and apply it to real-world situations” (p. 392).
Page 18, last para there is a double "that that" Removed. Thank you Table 1: I would have preferred the contents of the table to be included in robust discussion in the
Thank you for this comment. Within the sub-sections (2.1, 2.2 etc. I have included the
28
text, but this is not a requirement for publication. discussion of each of these studies). Therefore, the table is merely a summary for the reader to see the methods, core subject area and the skills that can be developed. I felt that the table was needed to draw the reader to these areas (method, subject, skills); otherwise it gets last in the text.
Method: The only extensive development area required is with respect to the response rate. On page 10 there isn't sufficient evidence provided that the response rate was adequate. The Marx (2008) doctoral thesis is not a leading expert in surveys and the accompanying stats. How have the authors addressed non-response bias? While the response rate seems adequate, further validation is required to be documented.
Thank you for this valuable comment. I have removed the reference to Marx, and added Barac’s similar study of accounting graduates. See changes below: Questionnaire response rates can often be disappointing (Lowe & Locke, 2005). For example, recent studies conducted in South Africa reported response rates of 17% (Barac, 2012) and 28.9% (Malan & Stegmann, 2018). Therefore, the sizeable response rate achieved for this paper contributes to the reliability and usefulness of the information. Possible non-response bias was investigated by determining how representative the respondents were of the total population. At the time of sending the questionnaire, 14 universities in South Africa were accredited by SAICA. Respondents from 13 universities were represented in the results, as respondents from one university did not complete the questionnaire. Furthermore, training programmes serve as the practical training ground for aspirant CAs and are classified as large, medium or small firms, commerce and industry or the public sector. Respondents from all training programmes were represented in the results. Therefore, respondents in this study can be seen as being representative of the total population.